caulfield12

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/world-financ...-122826731.html Markets starting to bet Trump is all talk and no action President Donald Trump?€™s approval rating has gone up three points among male voters in the wake of the Stormy Daniels controversy. Following allegations by the adult film star that she and Trump had an affair in 2006?€”shortly after his wife Melania gave birth to the couple?€™s son Barron?€”the president?€™s approval rating among men rose from 50 to 53 percent compared with last month, according to a new Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll. But female voters are not impressed. The poll, conducted from March 27-29 , showed that among women the president?€™s approval rating dropped from 41 percent to 35 percent, in what the poll?€™s co-director dubbed ?€œthe Stormy effect.?€? ?€œWhile President Trump?€™s overall ratings are stable, his support increased among men and dropped among women,?€? Penn told The Hill. ?€œThis poll was taken right after the Stormy Daniels interview and so I think this increased gender polarization is the ?€˜Stormy Effect?€™,?€? he added. source: yahoo

Get on the Blaze Jordan (MS) bandwagon...the next Bob Horner/Dave Kingman/Pete Incaviglia/Rob Deer, haha.

Unless one believes in Basabe, Adolfo staying in one piece without duct tape and baling wire, Rutherford and maybe Cordell. On the plus side, Moncada/Robert/Anderson/Avi/Leury/Yolmer/Saladino are all pretty darned athletic...and, of course, Engel. That’s a really nice foundation. Nothing like the plodding 2006-2008 White Sox, or 2011-13 (minus Rios and DeAza).

QUOTE (ChiSoxJon @ Mar 29, 2018 -> 01:19 PM) Hopefully Kopech is up by July Stephens, Adams, and Guerrero should really be in AAA, borderline ridiculous...hopefully move quick, Hansen may be a September call-up Dunning is likely in W/S for two months tops, but that OF is crowded...I see Rutherford needing a demotion to KAN, Basabe clicking, Call hopefully clicking and moving up to AA somewhat fast, Booker maybe up to AA by July, and Robert in AAA by the end of the year...Forget when Adolfo can field again but he'll be there too Hopefully Curbelo rakes upon return with KAN, real talent Thats very aggressive with Robert missing two full months...probably AA at end of he year, then AFL.

There goes the sign Josh Donaldson backup plan, lol...cue a “whoever offers him the most FA money wins” retort.

Attendance woes: There were several “Yikes” tweets about the A’s announced attendance of 7,416. A’s beat writer Susan Slusser reported it was the team’s lowest attendance since April 3, 2003, when the team drew 6,295 fans. That game, however, was a makeup game after a planned trip to Japan had been canceled. Maybe even more surprising was Toronto’s attendance of 16,629. The Blue Jays had just six crowds below 30,000 last season, with a low of 28,401 for a September game against the Orioles. The Jays’ attendance had soared past 3 million each of the past two seasons, the first time they had reached that mark since drawing 4 million in 1993. Is the bandwagon falling apart after one sub-.500 season? Yes, it was a Monday night in early April, not exactly prime time for big attendance figures. The extra off days this season help with travel, but making a season that’s already too long for many fans a week longer doesn’t help. The Blue Jays game, a 4-2 win over the White Sox, did offer an interesting moment when Josh Donaldson homered and then pretended to blow a whistle toward the White Sox dugout. Apparently, White Sox coach Daryl Boston whistles whenever the Sox make a good defensive play -- which seems as ridiculous as it must sound -- and Donaldson was miffed about a whistle earlier in the game when he grounded out. While the Sox dugout laughed at the gesture, this is Josh Donaldson we’re talking about: He didn’t do it to draw a laugh. espn.com Schoenfield

QUOTE (Lip Man 1 @ Apr 2, 2018 -> 08:20 PM) Lopez looked strong. Offense didn't do much but that was expected...they never saw Garcia before. We've seen that a lot in the past. Meanwhile the bullpen blew the first of what figures to be many, many games as they had a 2-1 lead in the 7th and gave it up, wind up losing 4-2. Don't care for Farquhar at all. Ross needs to be called up, had a great spring and could be a nice trade chip come July. Not sure they want to go four lefties...Avilan, Bummer and Santiago. (Clearly they see some long-term potential in Bummer.) Of course, this season, there's no reason not to experiment. The best relievers who can get anyone, LH or RH out, win their spots in the pen. Ross, Gomez and Rondon are surely the next in line before they go to "youngish" guys like Beck and Danish yet again.

At least we have loads of pitching options at AAA...let the merry-go-round of back-end relievers begin.

QUOTE (soxfan49 @ Apr 2, 2018 -> 07:31 PM) Isn’t Jones the SU man? Not clear...seems he's more the "high leverage" guy, whether it's in the 7th, 8th or 9th.

Well, the main point tonight is Lopez pitched well...or we're no longer satisfied with moral victories?

Ooops. Bad location for a 94 mph fastball...inside, but not far enough in, and belt high.

Lopez was really throwing BB's in the first inning...was consistently 97-99 mph. Impressive stuff.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 2, 2018 -> 03:50 PM) Considering the way that a roster and the game is made up the tilt SHOULD be heavily towards position players, and not even. We did the whole pitching heavy with a couple of star hitters thing, and it flopped. Unless the starter surplus goes into a Top Five pen. Good luck building that through free agency with the numbers this offseason. We already tried with Dotel, Linebrink and then Robertson to mixed success.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 2, 2018 -> 03:10 PM) Donald Trump and Betsy Devos should not be involved in the least in teacher pay protests in various states just because the states voted for him at the national level. And yet that’s the prism eveything is looked at today...especially if these tariffs are imposed by China. They’re specifically targeting his base (including EU)...Harley-Davidson WI, bourbon whiskey (TN/KY), farming/agriculture (numerous states, especially Heartland and Rust Belt.) Do you think he would still go after Amazon if Washington (state) had voted for him...? Or Howard Schultz from Starbucks didn’t criticize Trump at every opportunity? Heck, the GOP seems to be actively courting a “culture war” with WA, OR, CA and Hawaii. Hollywood. Liberals. Elites. Silicon Valley minus Peter Thiel (of course, tax policy runs counter.) Net neutrality. Sanctuary cities.

QUOTE (bmags @ Apr 2, 2018 -> 02:00 PM) It's somewhat true but moreso I'd say the sox need of filling in depth with veteran contracts was not an efficient use of their modest budget. Compare that to an actual sell-off with the Marlins. The sox for example held onto QUintana for the right time, whereas the marlins needed to move off stanton to get to a payroll threshold. They would have had to sell high/er on Yelich, Dee Gordon, Realmuto, Ozuna...at least one year earlier. Or auctioning Stanton off before he got that immense deal. Jose Fernandez’s premature death really rattled Loria, from everything you read. It’s also why the Royals’ path post Yordano Ventura makes even less sense (feels like Moore can’t afford another full rebuild with the fans.)

QUOTE (bmags @ Apr 2, 2018 -> 02:00 PM) It's somewhat true but moreso I'd say the sox need of filling in depth with veteran contracts was not an efficient use of their modest budget. Compare that to an actual sell-off with the Marlins. The sox for example held onto QUintana for the right time, whereas the marlins needed to move off stanton to get to a payroll threshold. They would have had to sell high/er on Yelich, Dee Gordon, Realmuto, Ozuna...at least one year earlier. Or auctioning Stanton off before he got that immense deal. Jose Fernandez’s premature death really rattled Loria, from everything you read. It’s also why the Royals’ path post Yordano Ventura makes even less sense (feels like Moore can’t afford another full rebuild with the fans.)

QUOTE (bmags @ Apr 2, 2018 -> 01:41 PM) I think he tried to wiggle out of the marlins/indians examples because those were driven by costs. Isnt that at least somewhat true for us, too? The White Sox were not willing to put out a $150-175 million payroll with only a non-zero chance of getting back to the playoffs. At the time, that?€™s what it would have taken to overcome post-World Series KC, the rising Indians. Even the Twins had Sano/Buxton/Berrios arriving...and the Tigers?€™ willingness to outspend with Ilitch.

QUOTE (Jenksy Cat @ Apr 2, 2018 -> 11:23 AM) Yeah I wouldn't call the Sox the "most extreme" tanking ever, just happened to luck into a crazy combination of having a few elite assets + contending teams with great farms. The Astros were BAD for 3 years in a row and destroyed the draft a couple times to get them a ring. Outside of Tatis I've loved every move, my only concern is they can't draft & develop a positional player to save their lives (jury out on Anderson still) and will eventually need to do that at some point once this wave of prospects has passed. Having a young core hopefully come along in the next 2 years + infinite money to spend in a great free agent class is a pretty nice spot to be in. The Marlins and Indians did the same thing at least twice. Now at least three times in Miami. The A’s have been cycling through tanks over and over again. The Rays? The Twins...the Padres, many examples. Otoh, without the Shields deal, the White Sox have the lowest payroll in baseball by $10 million and clearly the #1 farm system with up to five superstars or at least All-Star caliber talents in the system (Jimenez, Tatis, Kopech, Robert, Hansen, Cease...and, if you squint hard enough, Collins because of the dearth of legit catching prospects, or Micker Adolfo). So the unique differentiating point is teams like the Cubs and Astros based rebuild on hitting/positional prospects moreso than the Sox approach of pitching first. Of course, we’ve already taken hits there...Rodon injuries and inconsistency (compared to say a Bryant, Correa or Lindor)...Burdi injured...Giolito looking more like Gavin Floyd than a true frontline ace (still a net win) due to a dropoff in velocity...otoh, Cease looks more and more legit everyday. Let’s not forget Fulmer is also FAR from a sure thing. And then you have the Burger, Robert and Adolfo injuries. Not quite the linear path those two teams followed (Cubs/Astros), but undoubtedly faster to get back to competitive team, too. Financially, we might be in the best division to overtake rivals as well...over the long-term. The Padres do everything right, still have the Dodgers in their path, for example. Maybe NL East post Harper is equal opportunity for Braves and Phillies?

If Moustakas couldnt get 5 years and $60 million at age 29, LH, key position on the infield....what can Avi realistically expect two offseasons from now at age 28 (assuming he stays a minimum 3-4.5 war player)? What would/should/could Hahn be willing to offer, know he’ll probably be too low but just checking to see if he’ll bite without insulting him simultaneously?

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 2, 2018 -> 09:25 AM) It's amazing how many adults have attacked these kids on twitter, and almost every single one of them eventually apologizes. Frank Stallone, Sly's brother was the last. I saw one comment where they could boycott something in response, but there isn't anything to boycott for Frank Stallone. He did some songs for Saturday Night Fever, but Travolta already is boycotted....

Teacher protests last month in WV. Today, Oklahoma and Kentucky. Next up, Arizona. Where are Trump and DeVos?...four states that voted for him. Not to mention all the agricultural export states like Iowa soon to be hit by Chinese tariffs on pork, soybeans, sorghum, etc. Blue wave, baby!

The only way I could see a problem would be if a team specifically hired a family member within 1 year's time of a college draft...for that very reason (not unlike bringing a family member onto a college basketball coaching staff to ensure a recruit's commitment). Thomas has been with the White Sox for at least two decades, right?

http://www.spotrac.com/mlb/payroll/ https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2P...XKZeTbE/pubhtml This includes projected CB Tax Payroll/Collective Bargaining and has us only $1 million behind Oakland (29th). Indians at $144 million and the Twins right around the same number (right around the mode for MLB teams). $57 million gap between White Sox and those two. Royals at $135.6 million. Detroit at $138 million. We're current 29th in payroll (I saw someone posted that one of the Chicago papers had us at 26th or 27th)...this information of $72 million SEEMS to be more accurate (or Cot's). That's barely $7 million over the 2005 World Series team.

And Abreu/Avi won't generate those huge returns because 1) age/fair value for fWAR, and 2) Avi's career track record (see same concerns over Logan Morrison, Yonder Alonso, etc.) If Avi really puts up another season (or half season) like 2017, then trading him would be crazy because he has a lot more value to the Sox than another team IMO (because we were so patient with him, and he's so comfortable now with the coaching staff/teammates). He's not going to get a return anything similar to the Yelich deal (obviously, All-Star player under longer control), and that wasn't exactly overwhelming, unless Brinson becomes an All-Star himself.

The big question with the Twins is how willing they are to REALLY go for it this year...? They'll lose Dozier and Mauer, and isn't this Santana's final contract year, unless they are willing to pay him $14 million next year (not to mention he would be 36)? If Buxton, Sano and Berrios hit their ceilings, they're an 88-90 win team. But they still wouldn't stack up against the NYY, Boston, Cleveland, Houston and what (for the moment) looks like the Angels if Ohtani is for real as a pitcher. The way the AL looks right now, they're #6, just ahead of the Mariners.